CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — With the first half of the Patriot League volleyball schedule in the books, the real fun can now begin.

Colgate remained in first place after another weekend sweep of League rivals, as the Raiders defeated Navy and American in Hamilton, N.Y. Saturday’s win over the defending champion Eagles was just Colgate’s third in the series with American, and the Raiders extended their recent run of strong play with their eighth win in their last nine outings.

Second-place Army kept pace with two victories at West Point over visiting Lehigh Friday and Lafayette Saturday. The Black Knights are one back in the standings.

American, Lehigh and Navy are locked in a three-way tie for third at 4-3, setting up a sprint to sew up one of the four available berths to the Patriot League Tournament.

Two non-League matches are set for Wednesday, with American going to Howard at 5:30 p.m. and Colgate visiting Albany at 7 p.m. League action resumes with eight matches across Friday and Saturday.

Patriot League Notebook

• Colgate has surrendered just two sets during its seven-match win streak to begin League play. The Raiders won in four at Army and Bucknell.

• Ryan Baker became the second head coach in Colgate history to reach the 100-win plateau with Saturday’s 3-0 victory over American.

• Army’s D.J. Phee leads the League and is 23rd nationally averaging 5.39 digs per set. The Black Knights are 11th in Division I averaging 17.94 digs per frame.

• Bucknell’s Claire Healy was the Bison’s leader in kills last weekend against Navy (13) and second in kills (11) and digs (four) against American. A freshman, she logged her fourth career double-double against the Mids.

• Saturday’s win was Lehigh’s ninth in a row over Holy Cross dating back to November 2007.

• Navy senior Carolyn Ewert had 21 kills over the weekend, moving her into seventh place in school history during the rally scoring era with 588 for her career.

• Navy posted a winning first half of the League slate for the first time since 2007. The Mids’ 3-0 triumph at Bucknell Saturday was their first road sweep in League play in nearly three seasons.

• Army’s Ariana Mankus is 23 kills and 19 digs away from entering the League’s all-time top 10 in those respective categories.

Patriot League Weekly Awards

MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK MICHELLE McCARTHY, COLGATESr., OH, Manhattan Beach, Calif.McCarthy averaged 3.33 kills and 1.5 digs per set with a .235 hitting percentage as Colgate logged a pair of 3-0 sweeps over the weekend, defeating Navy Friday and American Saturday. The latter of the two wins was the 100th at Colgate for head coach Ryan Baker, becoming just the second in program history to reach that milestone. McCarthy averaged 4.00 kills per set in Friday’s win over the Mids, and hit .267 with eight kills, six digs and two blocks in Saturday’s victory against the Eagles.

MOLTEN ROOKIE OF THE WEEK ZOE KREITENBERG, ARMYFr., MB, Los Alamitos, Calif.Kreitenberg established a career high with six total blocks as Army swept Lehigh Friday night at West Point. She was a main contributor offensively as well, hitting .500 with 10 kills and just one error. She added seven strikes and hit .267 with four blocks in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Lafayette. For the weekend Kreitenberg posted a .394 hitting percentage with 2.83 kills and 1.67 blocks per set. It’s her first career weekly award from the Patriot League.

D.J. PHEE, ARMYJr., L, Allen, TexasPhee entered the weekend 22nd in the country averaging 5.37 digs per set, and she surpassed that stat by averaging 5.67 per set as Army’s defensive anchor in a pair of wins. With Phee’s help, the Black Knights held Lehigh to .028 hitting and Lafayette to -.026 in the sweeps.

TAYLOR POOLE, LEHIGHSr., MB, Keller, TexasPoole hit .408 for the week and averaged 2.7 kills for Lehigh, which picked up a League victory Saturday at Holy Cross. She had 11 kills and three digs in that contest.

ALEX KARIKA, NAVYFr., S, Cranberry Township, Pa. Karika averaged 10.67 assists per set, including 12.67 per game with 38 total in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Bucknell. The Mids posted a winning record (4-3) in the first half of the League schedule for the first time since 2007.